Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Muskegon County offers Saturday hours for marriage licenses, passports, other items

Muskegon County offers Saturday hours for marriage licenses, passports, other items MLive.com: MUSKEGON COUNTY — Some services provided by the Muskegon County Clerk's Office and the Muskegon County Equalization Department will be available to residents during a special event Saturday.
Called Full Service Saturday, the event allows residents to complete applications for marriage licenses, passports and becoming a registered notary, along with registering a business name.
Residents can access specific information about the services offered by the clerk's office at www.co.muskegon.mi.us/clerk and for passports at www.co.muskegon.mi.us/equalization.

Full Service Saturday is scheduled for 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday at the county clerk's office, 141 E. Apple. Equalization department staff are set to process passport applications across the hall.

This is a great idea from county clerk Nancy Waters.
Pass the word on to everyone who can't make it to the county building during the week!

Mich. GOP Lawmakers More Intimidated by Government Unions?

Mich. GOP Lawmakers More Intimidated by Government Unions? [Michigan Capitol Confidential]:
The relatively small number of non-government workers in unions may explain an interesting legislative voting pattern that may be at work here:
Republican lawmakers appear less united in challenging the powers and privileges of government employee unions than those which organize workers in the private sector.

Here's why:
Michigan’s most powerful government employee union, the MEA teachers union, is currently bankrolling recall campaigns against Republicans who voted for these and some other reforms.
The outcome of those recalls may well determine whether there will be any further votes on legislation trimming the perks and power of government employees and their unions.

Do we really want the MEA running our state?

Teacher Right-to-Work Looking Like a Done Deal

Teacher Right-to-Work Looking Like a Done Deal [Michigan Capitol Confidential]
Chances look good for passage and enactment of legislation to provide right-to-work status for Michigan public school teachers.
Under the measure, called the “Freedom to Teach Act,” teachers would no longer be required to join or support a union as a condition of employment...

Lawmakers and political observers are often reluctant to predict the chances of passage for any specific piece of legislation, but in this case the stars seem to be aligning in a very favorable fashion.
By all indications, the measure is likely to be passed by the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Rick Snyder.

Wow!
Choice for teachers!
Who could possibly be against choice?

U.S. rallies opposition to Palestinian statehood bid

U.S. rallies opposition to Palestinian statehood bid - Washington Times

And it does add another murderous rogue state to the voting rolls of the UN.

Why the new Detroit bridge matters to West Michigan

Viewpoint: Why the new Detroit bridge matters to West Michigan MLive.com

Public workers paid better than private workers

Feds: Public workers paid better than private workers - OC Watchdog - The Orange County Register
Here’s the latest on who makes what from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (whose workers, we’ll point out here, happen to be public employees):
Workers in the private sector made an average of $28.13 per hour in total compensation in June (wages contributed $19.81 to that, and benefits added $8.32)
While state and local government workers made an average of $40.40 per hour (wages were $26.41, and benefits, $13.99).

What Job 'Training' Teaches? Bad Work Habits

James Bovard: What Job 'Training' Teaches? Bad Work Habits - WSJ.com

Last Thursday, President Obama proposed new federal jobs and job-training programs for youth and the long-term unemployed.
The federal government has experimented with these programs for almost a half century.
The record is one of failure and scandal......


After CETA became a laughingstock, Congress replaced it in 1982 with the Job Training Partnership Act. JTPA spent lavishly—to expand an Indiana circus museum, teach Washington taxi drivers to smile, provide foreign junkets for state and local politicians, and bankroll business relocations.
According to the Labor Department's inspector general, young trainees were twice as likely to rely on food stamps after JTPA involvement than before since the "training" often included instructions on applying for an array of government benefits.

For years the Labor Department scorned the mandate in the 1982 legislation to speedily and thoroughly evaluate whether the programs actually benefitted trainees.
Finally, in 1993, it released a study that showed participation in JTPA "actually reduced the earnings of male out-of-school youths."
Young males enrolled in JTPA programs had 10% lower earnings than a control group that never participated......
Earlier this year, the Government Accountability Office reported that there were 47 different federal employment and training programs, costing taxpayers $18 billion a year.
There is massive overlap and duplication, and few programs seriously evaluate their impact on trainees.

If federal job training efforts worked, Congress would not have thrown out the programs it has created every decade or so and enacted new ones.
In reality, government training has always been driven by bureaucratic convenience, or politicians' re-election considerations.
There is no reason to believe the latest round of proposals will be any different.

This is, or should be, a national scandal!

Techniques for Untruth

Techniques for Untruth
Two recent NPR stories display some techniques available to journalist-activists, allowing them to misrepresent truth while at the same time maintaining an appearance of objectivity.
One of these stories, ironically enough, presented itself as a fact check of the recent Republican presidential candidate debate;

Tea Party Bringing The Sunset to Public Sector Labor Unions?

Tea Party Bringing The Sunset to Public Sector Labor Unions? - West Palm Beach Republican Examiner.com
There is however a more far reaching change that will be likely occurring in Wisonsin, and across the nation.
As unions can no longer automatically deduct union dues from teachers paychecks, according to a recent article in The Economist, when this has happened in the past, the percentage of union members paying their dues collapses quickly.
The first such case was in 1992, when such a law was passed in Washington State, and as a result, the percentage of members paying dues dropped from 82% to just 11%.
When Utah enacted such a ban on collections in 2001, a year later there were 90% fewer dues paying members.
By 2011, Indiana has observed a 90% decline in union membership since automatic deductions were ceased in 2005.
And, finally, in 2001, when Colorado passed a law requiring an annual vote to "re-authorize" automatic deductions of union dues, union membership fell by 70% [in that first year].

Greece imposes new property tax to meet deficit targets

Greece imposes new property tax to meet deficit targets - Monsters and Critics
According to reports, foreign auditors have pressed Greece to speed up privatizations and focus on structural reforms and spending cuts, namely cutting down on the large number of civil servants.

Monday, September 12, 2011

Pure Michigan: MSU

Red Cross blood workers' agreement includes 'union security,' pay for strike days, union says

Red Cross blood workers' agreement includes 'union security,' pay for strike days, union says MLive.com: The Red Cross also restored the “union security” clause of the blood workers' contract, which had expired in 2009 with the rest of the contract, Marutiak said.
The clause requires new hires to join a union.

Security for the employees or security for the union leaders?

'Timebomb' fear as 'rationing by stealth' of operations hits NHS

'Timebomb' fear as 'rationing by stealth' of operations hits NHS - Telegraph
"Rationing by stealth" is hitting the NHS, the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) has claimed, after official figures were released showing a steep fall in the number of people referred to hospital by GPs.

Unions on the warpath

PATTERSON: Unions on the warpath - Washington Times
In the wild, a wounded animal is the most dangerous kind.
Right now, the labor movement in the United States is such an animal, reeling from a string of devastating injuries that have eroded its ability to raise money, organize and influence elections.
Consider, just this past year:

Sharia Lobby Shifts into 5th Gear

Sharia Lobby Shifts into 5th Gear
He insisted, though, that western Muslims don’t “favor” these aspects of Islam and none seek to impose them.
Evidence that they do abounds (here, here, here, here, here) but Reza said his broad web search found none.

What to Say to the Totalitarian Left on 9/11/11

Pajamas Media » What to Say to the Totalitarian Left on 9/11/11
Ethnic Arab Muslims are genocidally slaughtering black African Muslims, Christians, and animists in Darfur; Muslims are blowing each other up when they pray in mosques in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Pakistan, Indonesia; Muslim men are shooting down and beheading their own intellectuals and dissidents in unimaginable numbers. According to one compelling source, such numbers far outpace anything the combined American and Israeli forces have done in the last 50 years.
The estimated number of Third World Muslim violent deaths at the hands of other Third World Muslims, country by country, vastly exceeds that of Third World Muslim deaths in so-called “white imperial” wars.

With Gibson, Obama 'actively discouraging' jobs

With Gibson, Obama 'actively discouraging' jobs Campaign 2012

Meet the Democratic Party, Up Close and Personal

Meet the Democratic Party, Up Close and Personal Power Line
You might think that the union member is a low-life from the gutter, but the remarkable thing is that in all probability, he makes more money than you do:
In 2007, average annual full-time wages for 15,000 workers at 29 West Coast ports topped $136,000, according to the Pacific Maritime Association, which negotiates and administers contracts between ports and the ILWU.
Longshoremen earned an average of more than $125,000, clerks more than $145,000 and foremen more than $200,000.
Workers also get benefits packages worth $50,000 per year, according to the association’s 2007 report.
This is the ugly face of union privilege and entitlement that the Obama administration is determined to preserve.

West Michigan Symphony plans 'great experiment' this weekend

West Michigan Symphony plans 'great experiment' this weekend MLive.com
For the first time in recent history, the West Michigan Symphony will kick off its season with a rousing pops concert that Scott Speck hopes will have the audience dancing in the aisles and singing along.

I've always wondered why they've not done this yet.
Seems like a winner!

Disney | The Path to 9/11

Disney The Path to 9/11 Hillary Clinton The Daily Caller
“The Path to 9/11,” first aired on ABC in 2006, portrayed President Bill Clinton’s administration as ignoring warnings and signs that Osama bin Laden and al Qaida were planning a major attack on the United States — a finding supported by The 9/11 Commission Report.
But since 2006 Disney CEO Bob Iger has repeatedly refused to rebroadcast it, or to sell the rights to other broadcasters.

French Cows listening to American Jazz

Greek Prime Minister’s Promises Ring Hollow

Greek Prime Minister’s Promises Ring Hollow
Those difficult decisions, as noted here and here, have involved raising the Value-Added Tax rate, seeking out tax-evaders, selling off state-owned assets, firing 20,000 government workers and cutting the salaries of others, and imposing a one-time “solidarity contribution” tax

September 11th: My Thanks to Joel Surnow and His Fellow Hollywood Subversives

Big Hollywood » Blog Archive » September 11th: My Thanks to Joel Surnow and His Fellow Hollywood Subversives
For fear of missing one, I won’t attempt to name everyone in Hollywood who did the right thing, who openly supported our military and refused to participate in the resume-enhancing undermining of our country.
Within the context of the whole of the entertainment business, however, they make up a heartbreakingly short list.
But you know who are and we know who you are and we thank you.
The rest of you can burn in Hell

Jackie Evancho first audition Americas Got Talent full with result and c...

Jackie Evancho & Sarah Brightman "Time to Say Goodbye" on America's Got ...



TEN YEARS OLD??!!!!!!!
WOW!!

Boost Your WiFi Signal Using Only a Beer Can

Boost Your WiFi Signal Using Only a Beer Can : Discovery Channel

Saturday, September 10, 2011

500 Tea Party Protesters Storm a Government Building, Take Hostages

500 Tea Party Protesters Storm a Government Building, Take Hostages - Big Journalism
Got your attention?
Good.
Because it seems that unless a story has negative implications for the tea party no one (even Fox News) is going to make a stink about it.

8 beers Americans no longer drink

8 beers Americans no longer drink - Business - US business - msnbc.com

Panties are not optional in this year’s Miss Universe pageant

WLS 890AM
Panties are not optional in this year’s Miss Universe pageant.
After making several appearances in tiny skirts without panties, Colombian Miss Universe contestant, Catalina Robayo has been told she must wear underwear during the contest.

It's the culture, stupid!

Let’s Roll Over - Mark Steyn

Let’s Roll Over - Mark Steyn - National Review Online
And so we commemorate an act of war as a “tragic event,” and we retreat to equivocation, cultural self-loathing, and utterly fraudulent misrepresentation about the events of the day.
In the weeks after 9/11, Americans were enjoined to ask, “Why do they hate us?”
A better question is: “Why do they despise us?”

And the quickest way to figure out the answer is to visit the Peace Quilt and the Wish Tree, the Crescent of Embrace and the Hole of Bureaucratic Inertia.

President Obama Needs a Better Umbrella Holder

President Obama Needs a Better Umbrella Holder -- Daily Intel

God Bless America: A 9-11 Tribute from Herman Cain

PBS alters transcript to hide Obama gaffe

Blog: PBS alters transcript to hide Obama gaffe
At one point Mr. Obama made a major gaffe; he identified Abraham Lincoln as the founder of the Republican Party.

Lincoln did not join the Republicans until 1856, over two years after the party was founded.
The first Republican convention was held in Ripon, Wisconsin in 1854.

Such a gaffe would have brought huge amounts of ridicule and derision on George W. Bush, but in the case of Obama the media yawned.

Actually, they did more than yawn; government-funded PBS has altered the transcript of the President's speech, removing the offending comment.

More Leeches!

More Leeches! Power Line
"This chart, which I created from standard sources and have posted several times before, suggests that there may actually be an inverse relationship between government spending–careless, wasteful government spending, anyway–and jobs:"

Friday, September 09, 2011

UNIONS: Longshoreman Gives Rational and Coherent Statement to Media

Instapundit » Blog Archive » UNIONS: Longshoreman Gives Rational and Coherent Statement to Media…Just Kidding, He Threatens Ev…
This is the face of one of Obama’s core constituencies.
This is what you voted for when you voted for “hope and change.”
He can’t even curse creatively.

Obama and the lunatic left

KUHNER: Obama and the lunatic left - Washington Times
Any reasonable person would change course - but not Mr. Obama.
He is a big-government liberal who worships at the altar of statism.
The fact that we are broke and can no longer afford his borrow-and-spend policies means nothing.
Like all fanatics, he is disconnected from reality

Taxpayers deserve more information about public employee contracts

Viewpoint: Taxpayers deserve more information about public employee contracts MLive.com
Some recent union contract specifics might be of interest to those who will be paying for the contracts:
A union contract approved by the county board last February included an increase of four paid days off that brought the total paid days off for senior employees to 58. Yes, that's 58 paid days off for the year.

You might note that we have 52 weeks in a year.

Or that 58 days is almost 3 months of work days.

Thursday, September 08, 2011

Trumka to sit in Michelle's box at Obama speech

Trumka to sit in Michelle's box at Obama speech Campaign 2012

Comprehensive List of Obama Tax Hikes

Americans for Tax Reform :: Comprehensive List of Obama Tax Hikes
Which one of these tax hikes will destroy the most jobs?

Wind Farms, Renewable Portfolio Standard

Wind Farms, Renewable Portfolio Standard [Mackinac Center]
The Michigan Legislature created the inevitable land use conflicts by passing a requirement that at least 10 percent of electricity come from renewable sources.
The renewable energy standard was bad policy when it was passed and Michigan residents are just starting to experience the negative consequences of the legislation.
Michigan legislators should repeal the renewable energy standard

Classic bad government.
Create the problem.
Demonize those who were hurt.
Make the problem worse.
Everyone loses except those with tight political connections.
Gimme a break!

Obama blows another billion on green fantasies

KEENE: Obama blows another billion on green fantasies - Washington Times
You see, Mr. Chu and his boss have been there and done that already in California, using tax money to guarantee a massive investment in a company that was going to help usher in a brave, new and a very green world.
That company, Solyndra, declared bankruptcy not 48 hours after Mr. Chu announced his faith in Genesis. Solyndra’s founders managed to procure and eat up roughly half a billion dollars in federally guaranteed loans without making a penny in profit before declaring bankruptcy.

Bernanke puzzled by weak consumer spending

My Way News - Bernanke puzzled by weak consumer spending
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said he's surprised by how cautious consumers have been in the two years since the recession officially ended.
But the Fed chief offered no hints of any steps the Fed would take to boost the weak economy.

Good God, we're led by idiots!

Editorial: Jail mail: Letters vs. postcards: Revised policy makes a good compromise

Editorial: Jail mail: Letters vs. postcards: Revised policy makes a good compromise MLive.com

I'm not sure I agree with their goals but this small group of young folks has had quite an impact.

Judge Judy - Here's Who You Support With Taxes



You've gotta watch this one to the end!

Teamster Boss Jimmy Hoffa: “Lets take these son of bitches out”

Teamster Boss Jimmy Hoffa: “Lets take these son of bitches out”… NetRight Daily

State launches $2.4 million Pure Michigan fall campaign

State launches $2.4 million Pure Michigan fall campaign MLive.com#comments
This week, the state's nearly $2.4 million Pure Michigan fall campaign will hit the airwaves.
The television and radio ads, including seven partner ads, will air regionally and statewide through early October.
The tall ad budget includes $295,000 in funding committed by private sector partners as part of the Travel Michigan Ad Partnership Program

I love the ads and I hear they are effective.
But why is the state funding ads for private businesses?
If the ads are so effective, why wouldn't the private companies run own?
And save the state the money of producing them?

Longshoremen storm Wash. state port, damage RR

Longshoremen storm Wash. state port, damage RR - Yahoo! News
LONGVIEW, Wash. (AP) —
Hundreds of Longshoremen stormed the Port of Longview early Thursday, overpowered and held security guards, damaged railroad cars, and dumped grain that is the center of a labor dispute, said Longview Police Chief Jim Duscha.
Six guards were held hostage for a couple of hours after 500 or more Longshoremen broke down gates about 4:30 a.m. and smashed windows in the guard shack, he said.
No one was hurt, and nobody has been arrested.
Most of the protesters returned to their union hall after cutting brake lines and spilling grain from car at the EGT terminal, Duscha said.

Anne Jolis: The Other Climate Theory - WSJ.com

Anne Jolis: The Other Climate Theory - WSJ.com: This seems wise: In July, CERN Director General Rolf-Dieter Heuer told Die Welt that he was asking his researchers to make the forthcoming cloud-chamber results "clear, however, not to interpret them. This would go immediately into the highly political arena of the climate-change debate."
But while the cosmic-ray theory has been ridiculed from the start by those who subscribe to the anthropogenic-warming theory, both Mr. Kirkby and Mr. Svensmark hold that human activity is contributing to climate change. All they question is its importance relative to other, natural factors.

Wednesday, September 07, 2011

What a Dog does when its cold (Original silvanoson)

Obama’s whopper of a claim on tax cuts - The Fact Checker - The Washington Post

Obama’s whopper of a claim on tax cuts - The Fact Checker - The Washington Post

US drops to 5th place in global competitiveness

US drops to 5th place in global competitiveness - Business - Stocks & economy - msnbc.com

No Paper Or Plastic? LA Shoppers Wary Of Proposed ‘Nightmare’ Ban

No Paper Or Plastic? LA Shoppers Wary Of Proposed ‘Nightmare’ Ban « CBS Los Angeles
An effort to allow only reusable bags at Los Angeles grocery stores may sound like a political long-shot, but one city councilman thinks the public will eventually warm up to the initiative

Single molecule is tiniest electric motor ever

Single molecule is tiniest electric motor ever - tech - 05 September 2011 - New Scientist
For the first time, an electric motor has been made from a single molecule.
At 1 nanometre long, that makes the organic compound the smallest electric motor ever.

Its creators plan to submit their design to Guinness World Records, but the teeny motor could also have practical applications, such as pushing fluid through narrow pipes in "lab-on-a-chip" devices.

Less Than 0.001 Percent of Tenured Teachers Fired Over Past Five Years

Less Than 0.001 Percent of Tenured Teachers Fired Over Past Five Years [Michigan Capitol Confidential]: Harbor Beach Community Schools paid one teacher tens of thousands of dollars to leave, despite the teacher getting caught kissing some students and head-locking one after being confronted for his behavior.

Dearborn Public Schools paid four teachers a total of $197,353 to get rid of them after charges of sexual misconduct and possession of illegal substances on school grounds.

Gladwin Community Schools has dished out about $40,000 thus far in a legal case against a kindergarten teacher arraigned on charges of furnishing alcohol for minors

Local Government Employee Union Contracts for Every Michigan County and 28 Largest Municipalities

Local Government Employee Union Contracts for Every Michigan County and 28 Largest Municipalities ... [Mackinac Center]
Collective bargaining agreements for all 83 Michigan counties and the state’s 28 largest municipalities (cities and townships) are now compiled and available online, Mackinac Center Director of Labor Policy Paul Kersey announced today.
The database contains contracts for nearly every collective bargaining unit in these locales.

“Union contracts are one of the biggest drivers of the cost of government in Michigan,” said Kersey.
“But the public is rarely — if ever — told what all the terms are, or what the contracts are like for nearby communities.
This new database will allow residents to see the compensation and work rules for their local government employees and compare those with neighboring or similar communities.
It will be a great tool for taxpayers who want to hold their local elected officials accountable.”

Bring Out Your Dead - UBS Quantifies Costs Of Euro Break Up, Warns Of Collapse Of Banking System And Civil War

Bring Out Your Dead - UBS Quantifies Costs Of Euro Break Up, Warns Of Collapse Of Banking System And Civil War ZeroHedge

Wasserman Schultz: "Republicans Who Think The Recovery Act Didn't Work Are Wrong"

Wasserman Schultz: "Republicans Who Think The Recovery Act Didn't Work Are Wrong" | RealClearPolitics http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2011/09/06/wasserman_schultz_republicans_who_think_the_recovery_act_didnt_work_are_wrong.html

Alcoholic truck drivers are now a protected class!

TigerHawk:
Catch-22 watch: Alcoholic truck drivers are now a protected class!

In more good news for employers worried about liability, the Obama administration has set up yet another Catch-22 for business:
The federal government has sued a major trucking company for its firing of driver with an admitted alcohol abuse problem.

Alcoholism is classified as a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the suit maintains, and therefore employees cannot be prohibited even from driving 18 wheelers due to their histories of abuse.

Presumably this rationale equally applies to oil tanker captains, bus drivers, airline pilots, and neurosurgeons.

Yet again, business has to choose between managing tort liability and navigating federal regulation that makes it much harder to... manage tort liability.
Not to mention actually, you know, doing business.

Tuesday, September 06, 2011

Wither American Working Man?

Pension Pulse: Wither American Working Man?
It's absolutely scandalous that the richest country in the world has 46 million people collecting food stamps.

And behind the 9.1% headline unemployment there is the real unemployment scandal that nobody wants to talk about.
Black unemployment surged to 16.7% in August, its highest level since 1984, while the unemployment rate for whites fell slightly to 8%.

And if you think that's scandalous, the unemployment rate for disabled people, including disabled veterans, remains outrageously high -- multiples of the black unemployment rate.

Have public unions failed the public?

telegraphjournal.com - Have public unions failed the public? Bill tufts and Lee Fairbanks - Breaking News, New Brunswick, Canada
In this century, however, the labour movement has morphed into a protection group focused on extracting more money from taxpayers.

The President's (Latest) Hypocrisy

The President's (Latest) Hypocrisy - 620 WTMJ
It’s an old story by now:
the president speaks out in favor of civility in public discourse when it advances his aims and ambitions.
But he’s quite comfortable with violent rhetoric when it serves his political interests and when it’s used by his political allies.
There are many ways to describe the character and integrity of a man who follows such an approach — and none of them are terribly impressive or particularly honorable.

The Unsustainable Cost of Local Pensions

The American Spectator : The Unsustainable Cost of Local Pensions
In the county seat of Erie, taxpayers have seen the city's pension deficit increase by a 12-fold between 2003 and 2007 to $22 million.

A State of Total Insanity

Articles: A State of Total Insanity
It turns out that the chief psychologist for the state's prison system earned $838,706 -- last year alone!
To be precise, the shrink earned somewhere between $261,408 and $308,640 in salary, with the remainder coming from bonuses or cashing in unused sick leave.
This is not an anomalous case

Central Falls Set to File Bankruptcy Exit Plan; 50% Pension Reductions, 40% Slash in Police and Fire Budgets Coming Up

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: Central Falls Set to File Bankruptcy Exit Plan; 50% Pension Reductions, 40% Slash in Police and Fire Budgets Coming Up
Flanders has already ordered reductions of up to 50% in Central Falls retirees’ pensions and suggested he will need to slash the police and fire budgets by 40%.

Entitlements strangling U.S. economy

Columnists Entitlements strangling U.S. economy The Detroit News
Often you can't get a good thing without paying a bad price.
A prime example is Social Security.
It has been completely successful in wiping out poverty among the elderly.
Old ladies no longer have to eat cat food to survive.

But we pay some prices for this.
One is a lower savings rate.
China has a humongous savings rate in part because it has no reliable old-age pension system.
People have to save if they don't want to starve.

In the United States, we got out of the habit of saving.

Smaller millage for Egelston Township fire station will be before voters in November

Smaller millage for Egelston Township fire station will be before voters in November MLive.com
Often millage rates drop as overall taxable value of property in a municipality increases over time.

Larry J. Sabato: The 2012 Election Will Come Down to Seven States

Larry J. Sabato: The 2012 Election Will Come Down to Seven States - WSJ.com
That's why seven super-swing states with 85 electors will determine which party gets to the magic number of 270 electoral votes:
Colorado (9), Florida (29), Iowa (6), Nevada (6), New Hampshire (4), Ohio (18) and Virginia (13).

Monday, September 05, 2011

New radio show in Muskegon!

Muskegon Taxpayers Alliance: New radio show in Muskegon!
"I will be focusing on Michigan and Muskegon politics and how the decisions of our political leaders affects us here in Muskegon.
And the decisions they've made lately have gotten us in big trouble."

          Eye On Muskegon
             With your host
  "The Mouth of Muskegon"
                Jim Riley
   Every Sunday morning 9-10
        WKBZ-1090 AM
    The Talk of Muskegon

Support workers, not pushy unions on this Labor Day

Support workers, not pushy unions on this Labor Day BrainerdDispatch.com Brainerd, Minnesota
But let’s question the premise behind the push.
For although unions may be good for a worker, singular, they are not always good for workers, plural.

Marco Rubio's Courageous Speech

Marco Rubio's Courageous Speech - Star Parker - Townhall Conservative
He had the temerity to suggest that the huge growth in government’s role in American life over the last century “actually weakened us as a people.”

Gurcharan Das on Anna Hazare's Anticorruption Campaign

Gurcharan Das on Anna Hazare's Anticorruption Campaign - WSJ.com
A series of corruption scandals has swept India over the past year.
These include graft-ridden purchases for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, for which rolls of toilet paper were purchased for $80 each; the government's sale to favored companies of licenses for the mobile-phone spectrum, at prices so low that they are estimated to have lost taxpayers somewhere between $10 billion and $40 billion; and the grabbing of expensive apartments in Mumbai by politicians, officials and generals on prime property that was meant for war widows

It happens here in the USA too.
Be ever vigilant!

Command Cops in Sterling Heights: $119k Average Pay – Demand Labor Arbitration in Dispute with City

Command Cops in Sterling Heights: $119k Average Pay – Demand Labor Arbitration in Dispute with City [Michigan Capitol Confidential]
A Sterling Heights police union with 35 members averaged a gross salary of $119,000 this year and has refused to make any contract concessions – choosing instead to take the dispute to arbitration.

Ain't labor unions great?

Gas Prices Rise Before Labor Day Weekend

Gas Prices Rise Before Labor Day Weekend « CBS Baltimore
It’s a dollar more a gallon compared to Labor Day 2010.

From blight to habitat: U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow sees federal dollars pay for Saginaw neighborhood revitalization

From blight to habitat: U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow sees federal dollars pay for Saginaw neighborhood revitalization MLive.com
At 816 S. Park, for example, the first visit on the senator’s tour, the home cost $131,000 to renovate, according to city figures.
The home sold for $34,900, Collier said.

What a concept!
Spend $131,000 of other-people's-money and sell the home for $34,900!
How long can that "business plan" continue?

President Obama to preview job creation plan at AFL-CIO Labor Day rally in Detroit

President Obama to preview job creation plan at AFL-CIO Labor Day rally in Detroit MLive.com
President Barack Obama is celebrating Labor Day in Detroit, previewing his ideas for job creation and economic growth at a rally with thousands of supportive labor union members.

Obama?
Detroit?
Unions?
Job creation?
Oxymoron!

The tradition continues: Muskegon will host annual Labor Day Parade

The tradition continues: Muskegon will host annual Labor Day Parade MLive.com
The parade, which starts at 11 a.m. at the corner of Clay and Terrace streets, goes west on Clay Avenue, north on Fourth Street, and west on West Western to Seventh Street.

In E-Mail Age, Postal Service Struggles to Avoid a Default

In E-Mail Age, Postal Service Struggles to Avoid a Default - NYTimes.com
The United States Postal Service has long lived on the financial edge, but it has never been as close to the precipice as it is today: the agency is so low on cash that it will not be able to make a $5.5 billion payment due this month and may have to shut down entirely this winter.....

Sunday, September 04, 2011

Incredible photos of 1.3m geese taking off on their migration home

Incredible photos of 1.3m geese taking off on their migration home Mail Online

John Cleese: London is no longer English city | The Sun |News

John Cleese: London is no longer English city The Sun News
He replied: "I'm not sure what's going on in Britain.
Let me say this, I don't know what's going on in London because London is no longer an English city.

Racism is the reason MDOT ignores overgrown grass and weeds along highway on Saginaw's East Side, resident says

Racism is the reason MDOT ignores overgrown grass and weeds along highway on Saginaw's East Side, resident says MLive.com

Why are tar sands evil, again?

Video: Why are tar sands evil, again? « Hot Air
A good man-on-the-street video is hard to beat.
So, why is oil evil?
Well, that’s not exactly what these Keystone pipeline protesters wanted to talk about (what did they want to talk about, then?), but they’ll take a stab at it anyway …

Senior IMF Economist Expects Hard Default For Greece. Soon.

Senior IMF Economist Expects Hard Default For Greece. Soon.

New questions, possible cover-up, surface in ATF Fast and Furious probe

New questions, possible cover-up, surface in ATF Fast and Furious probe - Washington Times

Funny how cover-ups always seem to leave just a bit uncovered.

Friday, September 02, 2011

Crash-Prone Hybrid Copter’s New Mission: Hauling the President’s Peeps

Crash-Prone Hybrid Copter’s New Mission: Hauling the President’s Peeps Danger Room Wired.com
It crashed four times in development, killing 30 crew and passengers.
An unexplained crash during a combat mission in Afghanistan last year claimed four more lives.
Despite its lethal reputation, in April the controversial V-22 Osprey tiltrotor got a high-profile new assignment: hauling cargo for the president’s entourage, starting in 2013

Fineman: Dems Tell Me Campaign Will Be "Down And Dirty" Attack On GOP

Fineman: Dems Tell Me Campaign Will Be "Down And Dirty" Attack On GOP RealClearPolitics
"When I talk to Democrats outside and inside the White House, as I did today what I heard was a slightly different message," Howard Fineman said on tonight's "Hardball."

Fineman reveals that the Democratic strategy for the presidential and Congressional elections will be "down and dirty."

Restaurants in Greece refuse to pay VAT rise

Restaurants in Greece refuse to pay VAT rise - FT.com
The steep rise in value added tax on the hospitality sector from 13 per cent to 23 per cent is part of a package of fiscal measures agreed in return for the country’s second financial rescue by European Union partners.

Thursday, September 01, 2011

College for everyone is goal of workshops aimed at high school, adult students

College for everyone is goal of workshops aimed at high school, adult students MLive.com
A free "college access" workshop Sept. 21 will provide information for prospective adult students and high school students and their parents about a statewide initiative to help high school students choose, apply and pay for college.

Why should college be "for everyone"?
It's very expensive and most student don't even graduate.
And many who do graduate find their college education worthless in the finding a job.
Le those motivated go.
Stop the "everyone needs college" lie.

Michigan universities say 'college is still affordable' because aid programs defray half of cost

Michigan universities say 'college is still affordable' because aid programs defray half of cost MLive.com
In the past decade, average tuition in Michigan has about doubled.
For the school year that begins this week at many schools, the average now tops $10,000.

And the graduation rates?
And the employment rates?

Existing Pensions Also Will Be Cut

Existing Pensions Also Will Be Cut CalWatchDog
It’s obvious that pensions for future government workers are being cut, and will be cut further.
But California state and local governments’ unfunded liability for future pensions now is so large, $884 billion, that those already retired will see their pensions cut as well.

Politico’s ‘Is Rick Perry Dumb?’ Hit Piece Is Just a Taste of What’s Coming in 2012

Politico’s ‘Is Rick Perry Dumb?’ Hit Piece Is Just a Taste of What’s Coming in 2012 - Big Journalism
Well, the left-wing hitman who wrote the “Is Rick Perry Dumb?” piece is the same Jonathan Martin who savaged that private citizen, and the reason he wrote the Perry piece is for exactly the same reason.

Calling everyone who disagrees with them a "nazi" didn't work out so well. 
Is "dumb" the left's new version of "nazi"?

D.C. seeks to recover nonprofit funds used to renovate strip club

D.C. seeks to recover nonprofit funds used to renovate strip club - Washington Times
D.C. Attorney General Irvin B. Nathan filed a false-claims complaint Tuesday against the nonprofit group Miracle Hands and its director, reformed gangster Cornell Jones, charging them with misappropriating more than $300,000 from the city’s HIV/AIDS program for renovations on a proposed job training center that instead was used to open a strip club

Obama NLRB Eliminates Secret Ballot Elections-Making Card Check Forced Unionism a Reality

Obama NLRB Eliminates Secret Ballot Elections-Making Card Check Forced Unionism a Reality - Big Government
Outgoing NLRB Chair Wilma Liebman and the of the Obama Appointed NLRB Board members, Craig Becker & Mark Pearce, voted to eliminate secret ballot election protections.
Now, when employers make secrets deals with a union bosses agreeing to recognize a union without allowing his employees a secret ballot vote; employees no longer have the right to force an NLRB secret ballot election and allow workers to decide if they want the union or not.

Unable to pass EFCA, Card Check Forced Unionism, through a Democrat-controlled congress, Obama is paying off Big Labor through his handpicked NLRB Board.
He is doing all this at the expense of worker freedoms and worker paychecks.
And, the NLRB Decision is applied retroactively to bar even elections that have already been held but not counted.

Counties Still Ignore Pension Tsunam

Counties Still Ignore Pension Tsunami CalWatchDog
As the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management reported in October 2010, Kern County is facing a situation in the “best case” where 51 percent of its General Fund would have to be dedicated to paying pensions by 2019.
And in the “worst case” situation, 82 percent of its operating budget would have to paid for pensions by 2015:
Percent Municipal Revenues Consumed by Pensions
CountyBest Case
(2019)Worst Case
(2015)
Fresno County78%142%
San Diego Co.62%119%
L.A. County41%91%
San Bernardino County45%90%
Kern County51%82%
Ventura County38%76%
San Francisco34%74%

.
Kern County apparently is on track for the worst-case scenario.
But labor leaders are still true believers, just as Bernie Madoff’s investors were.

Chilling Free Speech in the Great White North

Articles: Chilling Free Speech in the Great White North
Americans aware of journalists Ezra Levant and Mark Steyn are likely also aware that these two were hauled before Canadian "Human Rights Commissions" for supposed speech-crimes.
Levant was pursued because he published the Mohammed cartoons, and Steyn, for, well, casting some Muslims in a bad light.
Both men had their cases dropped, probably because they were articulate, famous, and had relatively deep pockets.
Others who have been charged have not been so lucky

One in five US Muslims knows of extremist support in community

One in five US Muslims knows of extremist support in community - Telegraph
While the vast majority said that suicide bombings and other forms of violence against civilians to protect Islam were never justified, 19 per cent of respondents did not agree with this statement.